The World Cup by Paul Hansford

Author:Paul Hansford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Hardie Grant Books
Published: 2014-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

Pitting the planet’s best teams against each other in a tournament to find the world champion is not always a guarantee of great football. The pressure exerted by the World Cup—the weight of expectation from fans and media, the physical and mental toll top-class football takes on an athlete, and living in virtual lock-down for weeks on end—can lead to some pretty average games. Being bored to tears by at least one World Cup game is as inevitable as a cameraman panning to a woman in a bikini top at a Brazil game or FIFA president Sepp Blatter making some stupid comment about women or race.

But the threat of partial brain paralysis is not enough to stop most fans from tuning in to each and every game. Any veteran World Cup fan will attest that, just when you’re least expecting it, the tournament will throw a rip-roaring classic at you. Usually there’s no rhyme or reason for when a great game will land in your lap. It’s just as likely to be two already-knocked-out minnows playing for pride as it is two heavyweights fighting for a place in the finals. The great part is you never know when the next one will be, and that’s why we remain glued to our TV sets for three weeks.

Over its nineteen-tournament history, the World Cup has had its fair share of cracking games—from the first final in Montevideo to the highly charged clash between old enemies England and Argentina in 1998—and has featured such oddities as players concussed by their celebrating teammates, kamikaze German keepers, and a blubbering defender told by a teammate to stop crying in the middle of the game or risk getting a thump in the face.

Uruguay 4 Argentina 2

World Cup Final, 30 July 1930, Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay

Going into the tournament there might have been question marks over Uruguay hosting the first World Cup finals, but by the day of the first final there was no denying FIFA had got the venue right. Aided by the fact that the showcase event would be fought out by neighbouring countries separated by a short ferry ride, the atmosphere in Montevideo before kickoff was at fever pitch as fans of Uruguay and Argentina descended on the Estadio Centenario. Tens of thousands of Argentineans had made the trip over by boat—although one group of fans got lost in fog and weren’t found until the next day—and tensions were high ahead of the game. More than 150,000 turned up at the stadium, which had a capacity of 90,000, and both sets of fans showed immense national pride, with scenes of singing, goading and fighting commonplace.

The players were feeling the heat as much as the fans. Both teams were escorted to the stadium by armed guards, and Argentina captain Luis Monti later revealed that he had been sent death threats. Even Belgian referee John Langenus demanded a police escort for after the game, in case things got out of control. While the crowd behaved itself

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